Almost the entire population of Turkey is Islamic.  As in many Islamic countries, mosques have a prominent place in most towns and villages and many Turks answer the five daily calls to prayer by praying in the direction of Mecca.  

The similarity with many other Islamic countries ends here however.  In contrast to other Islamic countries, Turkey is a secular state, with government and justice independent of the Koran.  

This has had several consequences: the Latin alphabet is used for Turkish instead of the Arabic of the Koran.  Education is not based on the Koran, Turkish schools do not give religious education. 

Women have the right to vote and do not have to wear religious headdress, which they very often do not do, people in Turkey wear almost exclusively western clothing.   Mosques may be visited by non Islamic people except during prayer, something that is unthinkable in most Islamic countries. 

Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, saw religion as one of the primary threats to the society he had envisioned in Turkey.  To prevent Turkey from ever becoming a religious state, he appointed the army as defender of the secular sate.  The army still takes this role seriously: the military have involved themselves in internal politics three times, including in 1996 when the Erbakan government was removed from power through peaceful means. 

In recent times there has been widespread concern outside Turkey for the return of an Islamic government under Erdogan.  The Turks themselves, mainly because of the positions of the army and Turkish culture, are not afraid of this.  Most Turks see the new government as a chance to combat corruption in the country and for beginning on a new leaf.  Although the new government does have a religious background, it should be seen as a religious democratic party as opposed to one of the orthodox Islamic parties that are also active in the country.